# Hide Your Home Address on Company Registers How to hide a home address from a company director register: which registers show it, the official routes, what history stays and the order of work. --- A director's home address can sit on a public register in several places at once: the registrar of companies, a beneficial ownership register, domain registration records and trademark or license files. The way to hide it is the same in most systems: put a separate public address in every published field, ask the registrar to remove the home address from filings already made, and send a separate request to each third party that holds a copy. Each register has its own address field, removal form and limits, and a removal at the source does not recall copies already taken by commercial data sites. This guide covers company and business registers only, not property records or people search sites. The rules below were read from registrar and regulator pages for the UK, Australia, New Zealand, one US state, the US trademark office, the EU and the global domain-name policy. Where a rule was not read, the text says so. This is information, not legal advice.
The short version
Three figures set the scale of the work, and each comes from a different registrar.
£34per filed document to remove a home address through Companies House form SR01
2 Feb 2026the date ASIC says residential addresses left company extracts on its website
5 yearshow long a New Zealand residential address suppression lasts before the address becomes public

Figures come from the Companies House SR01 guidance, the ASIC suppression page and the New Zealand Companies Office help page, as read for this guide.

## Which company registers can show a director's home address Six kinds of record can expose a home address, each controlled by a different body.
RegisterWhat can show an addressPrivate by default?Where to act
UK Companies HouseService address of officers and persons with significant control; home address in older filingsUsual residential address is held privately; a home address typed in a public field is publishedRegistrar forms
ASIC, AustraliaResidential address in lodged documentsNot on website extracts since 2 February 2026; other documents available for purchase may still show itASIC Forms 379 and 378
New Zealand Companies RegisterResidential address, registered office or address for serviceNo; suppression needs a Family Court protection orderCompanies Office
US state registry (California read)Addresses on filings such as the Statement of InformationNo; filings are public recordsState filing office
Domain registration dataRegistrant name, street, city and organizationRedacted when applicable law requires itRegistrar
US trademark recordsMailing address; the domicile address if entered anywhere else on a formDomicile address is hidden from the publicUSPTO
## UK Companies House: a service address is public, the residential address is not On a UK director appointment, the form asks for two addresses and publishes only one. The service address "will appear on the public record" and need not be the usual residential address. The usual residential address is a separate field that the form says is not public. The catch is that a public field publishes whatever you type in it. Three details decide whether this works in practice: - **No PO Box as a residential address.** The form says the usual residential address cannot be a PO Box, DX or LP number, and that a PO Box is acceptable only as part of a full service address. - **The registered office shortcut.** A director may enter "The company's registered office" as the service address. The form then requires the usual residential address in full instead of "Same as service address". - **The registered office rule.** Section 86 of the Companies Act 2006, as substituted and in force for remaining purposes from 4 March 2024 according to legislation.gov.uk, requires an "appropriate address": one where documents should reach someone acting for the company and delivery can be recorded. A Companies House blog post of January 2024 said a PO Box would not qualify and a third-party agent's address can if it meets the same test. For a founder who works from home, the registered office is the usual trap. If the company's address is the kitchen table, the home address is public, and it cannot be removed while it is the live registered office. The company has to move the registered office first, and a professional agent address that meets the test solves both problems. ## Removing a home address from filings already on the UK register Changing the address going forward does not touch what was already filed. The Companies House blog says a home address may still appear in older filings. The [Companies House guidance on removing a home address](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/removing-your-home-address-from-the-companies-house-register) says individuals use form SR01 to remove a home address, a signature, a business occupation (where it was required) or the day of a date of birth (documents filed before 10 October 2015 only). The fee is £34 for each document listed in the application, and an application with the wrong fee or missing evidence is rejected. The August 2021 Companies House blog quotes £32, so use the figure on the live guidance. The conditions that surprise people are these. - **A replacement address is required for active roles.** A current director, secretary, member, partner or PSC must give a replacement correspondence address, and it is shown publicly. - **Former officers and dissolved companies.** The replacement-address rule applies to active roles. If you are no longer an officer, the company is dissolved or the address was a former registered office, the page says a UK address shows only the first half of the postcode and an overseas address only the state or province and the country. - **The live registered office comes first.** You cannot remove a live company's current registered office address until the company files an AD01 change. - **Dissolved companies wait six months.** If the company was dissolved while your address was its registered office, wait six months after dissolution. The guidance page records that former registered office addresses became removable in January 2025 and that the day of birth, signature and occupation options were added in July 2025. ### A worked example with stated assumptions This is a scenario with invented, generic facts. A consultant formed a UK company from a flat. Assume the home address appears in four filed documents and the company has since moved to a professional registered office. At £34 a document, the fees are £136. Because the consultant is an active director, the application also needs a replacement correspondence address: the professional address. If the flat were still the registered office, the company would first file the AD01 change. List the documents from the filing history before paying. ## When there is a safety risk, UK protection is a different route Protection is not removal. SR01 takes an address off the public register. Protection keeps a director's home address from credit reference agencies and, for PSCs, can take all PSC information off the register. The [Companies House protection page](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/applying-to-protect-your-personal-information-on-the-companies-house-register) sets a higher bar. The applicant must be at serious risk of violence or intimidation because of the company's or LLP's activities, and a PSC can also apply to protect all PSC information. The page recommends evidence, such as a police incident number or documents showing threats, and states that a false statement is an offence. The practical terms on the page read for this guide: - **Fee:** £100 for home address protection, all PSC information, or a combined application; £15 for an abbreviated application where protection already exists for the same type of body. - **Method and timing:** by post on a paper form, as the online service is withdrawn; processing takes at least 30 days, complex cases up to a year, and the information stays protected meanwhile. - **Refusal:** a refused home address becomes available to credit reference agencies after the appeal period. Appeals go to the High Court, or the Court of Session in Scotland, within 28 days of the notice date. - **Limit:** specified public authorities, such as the police, can still request the information. To take the address off the public record, use SR01. Where there is a real safety risk tied to the business and the address must also be kept from credit reference agencies, consider protection. A director may need both. ## Australia: ASIC suppression covers history, with a safety test The [ASIC page on hiding a residential address](https://www.asic.gov.au/for-business-and-companies/companies/register-a-company/hide-a-residential-address-on-the-companies-register/) says that since 2 February 2026 officeholders' residential addresses have been removed from current and historical company extracts on its website. It adds that this does not remove residential information entirely, and that addresses may still appear in other documents available for purchase. Suppression is for officeholders whose own or family's safety is at risk. The steps depend on whether you are on the Australian electoral roll: 1. **Enrolled to vote.** Apply to the Australian Electoral Commission to become a silent elector, then complete Form 379 with an alternative address in Australia and the approval letter. 2. **Not enrolled.** Complete Form 379 without the letter, and also Form 378 to use an alternative address, with a statutory declaration explaining the safety risk. The page showed a template placeholder instead of the fee, so check the amount before paying. The alternative address must be a physical address in Australia where documents can be served on you. Use the alternative address, not the residential address, on ASIC forms. For a new company or director appointment, send the suppression forms together with it to reduce the risk the address is published first. Suppression on the ASIC page covers historically lodged documents, not only extracts. Names and dates of birth are not hidden, and the business names register is separate: hiding an address on the companies register does not hide it there. Report a changed residential address within 14 days and a changed alternative address within 28 days. An Australian Institute of Company Directors article dated 14 July 2026 says directors will be able to nominate an alternative address for public documents from 1 July 2027, and expects ASIC's interim measures to stay until then. That timing comes from the AICD, not from an ASIC page read for this guide, so treat it as a lead to check. ## New Zealand, the United States and the EU: narrower or different rules Outside the UK and Australia, the routes read offer less. ### New Zealand The Companies Office help page says a director or shareholder with a New Zealand Family Court protection order can apply to have residential address details suppressed. The Registrar approves if the order is in force and suppression will not unduly compromise the public register. The applicant must list every company and document where the address is viewable, and give an alternative physical New Zealand address if the registered office or address for service is the residential address. Suppression lasts five years unless revoked or discharged, after which the address becomes public. The page adds that the Companies Office cannot control third parties, such as bulk data users. ### United States The United States has no single register. The California Secretary of State's page says all information and documents provided for filing are available to the public, and that addresses in filings are also visible to third-party sites and search engines. It does not say a home street address can be swapped out of a filed document. It says information not required by statute should be left out, and that a corporation or LLC can file a complete new Statement of Information that replaces the earlier one, after which older versions can be purged under statute. Other states were not read, so no California rule should be applied elsewhere. The FinCEN page says that under a final rule effective 14 August 2026 US companies are exempt from beneficial ownership reporting; it does not say who can access reports, so nothing is claimed about that. ### European Union On 22 November 2022 the Court of Justice struck down the EU rule that let anyone from the public access beneficial ownership information, finding indiscriminate access not strictly necessary or proportionate, according to the European e-Justice Portal. Article 15 of Directive (EU) 2024/1640 lets member states exempt a beneficial owner's information from access in exceptional circumstances where it would create a "disproportionate risk of fraud, kidnapping, blackmail, extortion, harassment, violence or intimidation", case by case with administrative review and a judicial remedy. That wording was read on the springlex.eu copy of the Directive, because the official EUR-Lex text could not be rendered for this guide; check EUR-Lex before relying on it. How each member state applies this, and what national registers show about directors' addresses, was not read. ### Not read Canada, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore and the remaining US states were not read, so nothing is stated about them. Check each registrar's own guidance before acting. ## Domain registration and trademark records ### Domain registration data For generic top-level domains, the [ICANN Registration Data Policy](https://www.icann.org/en/contracted-parties/consensus-policies/registration-data-policy) took effect on 21 August 2025 according to ICANN's page. Registrars and registry operators must redact where applicable law requires it to protect personal data, and may do so for a commercially reasonable purpose. When redaction applies, registrant name, street, postal code, phone and fax are among the fields to redact, while registrant organization and city are optional redactions. Registrars must offer an email address or web form to reach the registrant without revealing the address. Two edges matter for company directors. - **The organization field.** A registrar must publish the registrant organization if the registered name holder consents, and otherwise may redact it. A domain in a company name can show that name. - **Privacy and proxy services.** For a privacy or proxy registration, the policy requires the service's full registration data to be published. The service's details appear, not yours. The policy covers ICANN-accredited registrars and gTLD registries. Country-code domains follow their own registry rules, which were not read. ### Trademark and license records The [USPTO page on personal information in trademark records](https://www.uspto.gov/TMPersonalInfo) says email addresses and the mailing address are public. The domicile address is required but kept out of the public record, though USPTO employees can see it. If the same address is entered in both fields it becomes public, and so does a domicile address entered anywhere else on a form. Removal is limited. Details the USPTO does not require, such as Social Security or bank numbers, can be removed by informal request. Other information you do not want public can be redacted only through a petition to the Director, granted only where an extraordinary circumstance exists and no other party is harmed. The petition becomes part of the public record, the fee is not refunded if it is denied, the USPTO cannot remove an entire record, and records stay viewable after abandonment or cancellation. The UK trademark register and professional license registers were not read. OpenCorporates says on its public records privacy page that it may collect names and addresses of registered trademark or license owners, a reason to check these records even where the register itself looks harmless. ## What stays visible and how the address spreads Removal at the source does not recall copies already taken. Three routes carry register data outward. **Credit reference agencies.** In the UK, a home address that is not protected can be available to credit reference agencies, according to the Companies House protection page. **Data feeds.** The Companies House developer documentation describes an officers stream of data notifications, each with a published_at timestamp, and describes the address in officer data as the officer's correspondence address. A free snapshot of basic data on live companies, in ZIP files of CSV and updated after each month end, is listed on data.gov.uk; the listing does not say which fields it holds. Anyone building a company database can take a public address once it is filed. **Aggregators.** OpenCorporates says it may collect an officer's name, address, partial or full date of birth, occupation and nationality, depending on the register. It ties redaction to exceptional circumstances, such as a register limiting access because of a serious risk to personal safety. A request must include the relevant URLs, your position in the company and full reasons, and only the individual or a legal representative can make it. It keeps records long-term. Other aggregators were not read. Search engines also index register pages, as the California page notes. Search-engine removal requests are a separate route that this article did not read, so it states nothing about what any search engine will accept. One risk applies to every request: it creates a record. Keep requests factual and do not publicize them, because a public complaint can draw more attention than the register ever did. ## Which route fits: a decision table Choose the route by what you want changed, not by the register's name. The table compares the routes read for this guide on the same criteria.
RouteWhat it changesWhat staysCost level and risk
Professional address for new UK filingsThe public address on every future formOld filingsLow cost; must meet the appropriate-address test
UK SR01 removalHome address in listed past documentsCopies already taken; the replacement addressFee per document; wrong document details are rejected
UK protection applicationAccess by credit reference agencies; PSC informationAccess by specified public authoritiesHigher fee and evidence; a false statement is an offence
ASIC Forms 379 and 378Residential address in lodged documents, replaced by an alternative addressName, date of birth and business names entriesSafety risk required; deadlines to report changes
Domain privacy or proxy servicePublic registrant details become the service's detailsThe registrar still holds your dataLow cost; the service is a third party
USPTO petitionRedaction of submitted informationThe record itself and the petitionFee not refunded if denied; may be refused
The first row is the only one that prevents the problem. The others deal with what is already public, and none reaches a copy held by someone else. ## The order of work for a director The order matters because several removals need a replacement address that already exists, and doing the steps out of order costs fees.
Order of work for removing a home address from company records
  1. List every recordSearch your name and each company number. Note every register, domain and trademark where the home address appears, with the document title and filing date.
  2. Choose the public addressPick a physical business or professional address that can receive documents. In the UK it must meet the appropriate-address test if it is the registered office.
  3. Change the live fields firstUpdate the service address, the registered office and any contact fields so new filings carry the new address. Check each box before submitting.
  4. Remove the address from past filingsFile the registrar's removal application for each document on your list. In the UK that is SR01, after the registered office change if it was your home.
  5. Decide whether protection appliesIf there is a genuine safety risk linked to the business, prepare the protection or suppression application with its evidence.
  6. Fix domains and trademarksCheck the registrant record of each domain and the owner fields on each trademark, and use a privacy service or a changed mailing address where allowed.
  7. Write to the copiesSend one factual request to each aggregator holding the address, quoting the URLs and your position, then re-check after a few weeks.
A realistic timeline, from our experience of these files and not from any registrar, runs like this. Steps one to three usually take a week or two, mostly in arranging the new address. The registrar application in step four runs as long as the registrar takes; the SR01 page gives no timeframe, so allow weeks and check the filing history afterward. A UK protection application takes at least 30 days and up to a year in complex cases, according to the page. Aggregator requests usually take longer than a registrar, and some are refused. Repeat the check after any change of officer or new domain registration. Our [executives](/executives) page explains how we work with directors. ## The next step if your address is on a register now
If this is happening to you now

If a home address is public and there is a threat or a live dispute, deal with the safety question first and use the registrar's protection route, not only a fee-based removal. Reputation Partners can review your records and set the order of work. Start with the private audit.

## Questions people ask ### Does a director have to give a home address to the registrar at all? In the UK, the appointment form read for this guide asks for a usual residential address as well as a service address, and says the residential address is not shown on the public record. Whether other registrars require a home address was not read for most countries. ### If I change my address now, does it change the old filings? No. A new address applies to later filings. The Companies House blog says a home address may still appear in older filings, so each earlier document needs its own removal application. Change the live record first, because the removal application asks for a replacement address for an active role. ### Will removing it from the register remove it from search results? Not by itself. Removal at the registrar stops the register publishing the address, but copies held by aggregators and data feeds remain until each holder removes them. Search engines have their own removal policies, which this guide did not read, so do not assume a register change updates a search result quickly. ### Does domain privacy hide my address from every record? No. Under the ICANN policy, a privacy or proxy registration publishes the service's registration data instead of yours, but the registrar still holds your details. It affects the domain record only, and the policy covers generic top-level domains, not country-code domains.